How do I make calculations with percentages?

There is a simple way of making calculations with percentages.
Say you want to subtract from a numerical value x,20%. Then multiply it with 80/100.
Say you want to add 20%.Then multiply with 120/100.
Say you want to add 70%. Then multiply with 170/100.
In short,if you want to add x%,then multiply with (100+x)/100. If you want to subtract y% then multiply with (100-y)/100.Note that you can't subtract more than 100%.
Easy,right?
Now we will look on a particular tricky question. We have a TV that costs 1000 pounds.Then,the price of TV is reduced with 20%.After some time,the TV is increased with 20%. What is the final price of a TV?
Don't fall into the trap of saying that the final price is the same with the initial one,therefore 1000 punds.
1.) We reduce with 20% : 100080/100=800 pounds
2.) We increase the current price with 20%,so: 800
120/100=960 pounds.
So the final price is 960 pounds.

MG
Answered by Marco-Iulian G. Maths tutor

4634 Views

See similar Maths GCSE tutors

Related Maths GCSE answers

All answers ▸

Factorise fully 3x^2 -48


I set up a tent (assume it’s a regular triangular prism) of length 2.2m. The triangular face of the tent is an isosceles triangle. The two identical sides are both 1.4m long and have an angle of 34degrees between them. Work out the volume of the tent -3sf


A cuboid has length x cm. The width of the cuboid is 4 cm less than its length. The height of the cuboid is half of its length. The surface area of the cuboid is 90 cm^2 . Show that 2x^2 − 6x − 45 = 0


Solve 3(x-2) = 21


We're here to help

contact us iconContact ustelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

MyTutor is part of the IXL family of brands:

© 2026 by IXL Learning